Blood on the Door
by Hyuuga-Awesomeness
Summary: Hinata gasped at the scene in front of her. The door was hanging loosely off its hinges and, as her pale eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she could make out three long, dark red strokes painted onto the wooden surface. [NejiHina]
1. Chapter 1

Blood on the Door

Chapter 1

Hinata gasped at the scene in front of her. The door was hanging loosely off its hinges and, as her pale eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she could make out three long, dark red strokes painted onto the wooden surface. "Neji-niichan!! Neji-niichan? Are you there?" she called out, her voice pitched about half an octave higher than usual. The only reply was a deeper silence still. Hinata activated her kekkei genkai.

_Byakugan!_

She searched the small apartment with her eyes but couldn't see any signs of life. She stepped inside and let out another horrified gasp. The walls, floor and ceiling usually so clean were streaked and splashed with blood. Kunai and shuriken littered the floor and broken shards of glass glinted like jewels. A table a little further in was slashed, broken and lying on its side. As Hinata walked towards the table she stumbled on something. A person's leg. She fought back a scream.

_It might not be Neji-niichan. Neji-niichan wouldn't go down that easily. It might not be Neji-niichan… _she thought desperately as she scrabbled and pulled at the debris of whatever it was that had fallen on the person. As the last few pieces fell away the body was clearly visible and clearly dead. But just as clearly not Neji. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever her thoughts had been telling her, she hadn't been able to rid herself of the terrifying mental image of Neji's body lying on the floor. His body, broken and bleeding; his face blank and expressionless. Hinata shuddered involuntarily and leant on the wall for support. Sometimes, the vividness of her own imagination scared her.

---

Neji opened his eyes. His body felt heavy and limp. All he could see was blackness, stretching far into the distance. He tried to activate his Byakugan but found that his chakra was completely drained. His head throbbed. He shook his head to clear it and to try and remember what had happened. That was it……They had come for him. So it must be Them who had him imprisoned.

_Wait, but that fight didn't use up this much chakra, so why am I drained?_ He thought, puzzled. His head gave another throb, straight across his forehead, where his cursed seal mark was. _Hinata-chan…_ He tried to lift a hand to his head but found that he couldn't move at all. He was bound by something, but he couldn't feel any chains or ropes against his arms. He tried to move again but met that same resistance. It felt like a chakra string but not in a string, a chakra field or cell. Neji could feel a mixture of chakra in the field, the main chakra felt very familiar… _That's just like them! Draining my chakra and imprisoning me in it! _he thought, annoyed. A door into another room opened somewhere close-by and a blinding chink of light hit him full in the face. A voice from the doorway ordered someone indistinctly to do something to do with 'the hostage' and Neji felt something hard and heavy collide with the back of his head. Stars erupted before his eyes and his consciousness slid, slowly, into blackness once again.

---

Hinata turned round and ran out of the apartment. If it really was Them who'd got Neji, she needed to tell someone. She ran to where her father, Hiashi, was usually to be found at this time of day. "To-san!" She called as she ran. "To-san! Something's happened to Neji-niich…er…Neji!" _Careful, Hinata, careful! _She thought to herself. _You know what to-san would say- Neji-niichan is from the branch family after all! _She got to the end of the corridor without meeting anyone. She blinked "Huh?" _I guess I just missed him or something…I'll go back and check. _She walked back, looking around carefully with her still-active Byakugan, and saw something half way that made her heart skip a beat.

Her father was lying face down in the entrance corridor to the Hyuuga estate in a pool of his own blood. He wasn't dead, but the fact that he was so badly injured was terrifying enough. Hyuuga Hiashi, THE Hyuuga Hiashi was injured?! Hinata shuddered at the thought of what his attacker(s) must have been like. Several medic-nins gathered as she watched and prepared to take him to the hospital to be treated. One of them saw her standing there and walked towards her. It was Shizune.

"Hinata, did you see what happened?" Hinata shook her head. "Have you seen anyone in the estate today who wasn't a Hyuuga, or was acting oddly?"

Hinata shook her head again. "No," she replied. "But I think whoever attacked to-san must be the same one who took Neji."

"Nani?!"

"I'll show you." With that, Hinata lead Shizune to Neji's room so that she could see the wreckage. Shizune let out her breath in a low whistle when she saw the state of Neji's apartment.

"When did you find this? Did you hear anything?"

Hinata shook her head yet again. "I came to see Neji just now and found his apartment like this. Then I went to search for to-san to tell him and saw him lying injured at the entrance. Then you and the other medic-nins arrived."

"I'm sorry, you'll find this hard, but you and your sister are going to have to be questioned by Tsunade-sama. She'll want to know of anything at all, any small clue as to who it might have been who attacked Hiashi-san and Neji-san."

Hinata's only reply was a small nod. She walked with Shizune in silence to Hanabi's room. _It must have been Them. _She thought. _It was Their mark on Neji-niichan's door and only They would be strong enough to take him and to injure to-san that badly._ Hinata looked up at the sound of Hanabi's voice.

"Onee-chan? What's happened? Why's a medic-nin here? Onee-chan, what's going on?"

"To-san's been attacked" Hinata replied quietly.

"NANI?!" the younger girl screamed.

"…and Neji's been taken- by Them" Hinata finished, ignoring her sister's reaction.

"THEY were here?!" Hanabi said, eyes wide, "They were here and took Neji? You're not serious are you, onee-chan?"

"Do I LOOK like I'm joking?" Hinata replied, almost angry- her sister's shrill voice wasn't helping her cope with the situation.

"No, but…"

"You and Hinata need to come with me to Tsunade-sama." This was Shizune, her tone calm but not cold. " She'll want to know if either of you have any ideas as to what happened."

Hanabi looked at her older sister, "onee-chan?"

Hinata nodded and turned to follow Shizune out of the door. Hanabi stood up and ran after them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **unfortunately, I don't own any of the characters- except for Them, of course

I've updated so quickly because this chapter was virtually finished when I posted the first one.

---

Blood on the Door

Chapter 2

"So, Hyuuga Neji is missing and Hyuuga Hiashi is injured?" Tsunade summarised "How did you find out that he had been attacked, Shizune?"

"A passer-by saw him lying in the doorway and alerted medic-nins straight away." Shizune replied. "I don't know how long he'd been there by the time he was seen, though"

Hinata and Hanabi were sitting in chairs in the Hokage's room, listening to Shizune's report to Tsunade. Neither of them had said anything since exiting the Hyuuga estate.

"So," Tsunade turned to the Hyuuga girls. "Neither of you saw any strangers or visitors in the estate until the medic-nins arrived?"

It was more of a statement than a question but Hanabi shook her head and Hinata replied, "No, I didn't see anyone."

"Did either of you hear anything? For instance, any thuds that you may have passed off as someone training?"

This time, Hinata shook her head but was surprised when Hanabi said

"Well…I think I saw to-san go to the door earlier, but I thought someone had just come to ask him something or to visit, you know, but I went into my bedroom before I saw him open the door and I didn't hear anything after that."

"What time was that? How long before Hinata and Shizune came?"

"Uhhh… I'm not sure…about half an hour, I think…"

"So that was probably when Hyuuga Hiashi was attacked and it seems that the intruders then entered the estate and found Hyuuga Neji. Do either of you recall when you last saw Neji?"

"I last saw him last night" Hinata said, "I didn't actually see him at all today. He goes into the woods to train very early and he'd probably just got back from training when the…ah…intruders came."

"So it seems very likely that both incidents were caused by the same people."

"It must have been Them!" Hanabi blurted out, before she could stop herself.

"'Them'? Who do you mean?" Tsunade questioned, one eyebrow slightly raised. Hanabi blushed faintly and looked at her sister for support.

Hinata sighed, and explained, "They are very powerful ninja, almost like a clan except They're not related. I think They base in a secret location near Takigakure no Sato (Hidden Village of the Waterfall) in Taki no Kuni (Country of the Waterfall). If ever referred to using a name, rather than as 'Them', then They are called the Kuragari no Ooi- meaning the Shroud of Darkness. They're called that because of specialised jutsu they use. I don't know anything else about them or what Their jutsu are, this is all what to-san told me about Them."

"Do you know if there is any reason they would target you, the Hyuuga clan? For instance, do you know if the Kuragari no Ooi have a grudge against your clan because of some encounter in the past?" Tsunade questioned.

Hinata shook her head "No. I know from what to-san told me that Konoha had something to do with Them about twenty years ago and our clan had some major part in it but I don't know what happened then or what the result was."

"Right," Tsunade shuffled some papers on her desk and picked up a folder. She looked through it briefly and then said "Shizune, take Hanabi back to the Hyuuga estate and then go with Hinata to collect Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Tenten and bring them all back here." _A completely mixed- up team but they're the only ones available at the moment._ Tsunade thought.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Shizune replied. Hinata and Hanabi followed her out of the building and onto the main street.

---

This time, as Neji opened his eyes, there was a small chink of golden light permeating the room. It appeared that someone had forgotten to fully close the door as they left. Neji raised his head and tried to discern his surroundings. There wasn't much in the room to see: an ancient desk at one end with an unstable-looking chair next to it. Neji turned his head to look behind him and saw only a blank, dust-coloured wall.

_Wait a minute, _Neji thought, _I turned my head! I can move a bit! Does that mean that the chakra cell They've got me in is wearing off? Is my chakra that They stole running out? _Neji tried moving his arms and legs but found that he could only make them twitch a centimetre or two. _Well, it's a start, _he thought to himself, _if I wait long enough and keep trying, I might be able to escape. _He tried moving his arm more forcefully and succeeded in lifting it up a few more centimetres. _I wonder if by moving just a few centimetres at a time, I could move further? _Neji tried out his theory by trying to move around into a position from which he might be able to stand up. _Well, it's working so far, _he thought, _now to try and stand up- but slowly… _

He gingerly put one foot flat on the ground and put his weight on it so he could gradually straighten out the other leg from where it had been curled beneath him. At that moment, Neji heard footsteps approach the door and barely had time to get back down into a position relatively similar to his original one before the door was flung open and light flooded the tiny room.

"Good," the larger of the two men in the doorway breathed, "Boss said the chakra might 'ave started wearin' off and the 'ostage might've been tryin' to escape. But 'e's still on the floor unconscious. Guess 'e's not as strong as Boss thought."

"I think he has been awake," the shorter and seemingly slightly more intelligent one corrected slowly, "the chakra field has been disturbed."

"No it 'asn't! It's the same as it always was! 'Onestly, you're so paranoid sometimes…" He tailed off into mutterings and Neji only caught the odd word such as "always suspicious" and "'onestly".

"I applaud you on the successful broadening of your vocabulary," the allegedly paranoid man drawled sarcastically, "I mean, it must have taken you weeks to learn such a long word as 'paranoid'." With that, he turned and walked out of the door- having apparently forgotten that Neji had been awake. The remaining man blinked, closed the door and followed the sarcastic one; he, too, seemed to have a rather poor short-term memory.

Neji waited until both sets of footsteps had receded and then shuffled round to resume his attempts at standing up, wondering simultaneously who 'Boss' was and how those two memory-challenged goons had ever managed to become members of such an elite ninja organisation as the Kuragari no Ooi.

---

Elsewhere in the labyrinthine network of passages concealed behind a waterfall, a tall, shadowy figure sat plotting his organisation's next move. He eventually decided on the group's next target. The target would be a heck of a lot easier to attack than the last one and the loss of that person would affect the head of the Hyuuga clan so much more than the last one had. Not that the head of the clan would know of the first loss for a while- he'd probably still be unconscious for a day or two…

The man smirked as he thought of the pain he must be causing the Hyuuga, such a humane emotion as pity had never had a place in the organisation.


End file.
